Strip feeding mechanism for writing machines



937' w. E. GOCHNAUER 2,101,334

STRIP FEEDING MECHANISM FOR WRITIIiG MACHINES Filed Aug. 1, 1935Patented Dec. 7, 1937 \Valter Elmer Gochnauer, Dover, N. 11., assignorto American Sales Book Company, Inc., Niagara Falls, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware Application August 1, 1935, Serial No. 34,242

13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in writing machines, such asautographic registers and the like, and more particularly to an improvedassembly and arrangement of the feed mechanism for feeding into positionthe record strips which are used in'the manifolding operations.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improvedarrangement and assembly of the elements of the strip feeding mechanismwhereby such elements not only are maintained in their correct operativeposition, but also they may be assembled or disassembled or adjusted inan improved manner and with a saving of time and energy over priorexisting devices of this character.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means whereby theoperative elements of the feed mechanism, as the feed disks, may bereadily mounted upon the feed shaft or adjusted thereon and locked intheir operative adjusted position.

According to another feature of improvement, a polygonal or othernon-circular feed operating shaft is mounted in the supporting frame byan improved arrangement of bearings and the feed controlling elementsare adjustably mounted upon said shaft by means of an improvedsupporting arrangement.

Another object is to provide an improved adjusting arrangement for thestrip feed disks whereby said disks may be quickly and easily adjustedupon the feed shaft for the accommodation of record strips of differentwidths.

Other objects of the invention will be in part pointed out in thefollowing detailed description of certain illustrative but preferredembodiments of the invention, and will be in part obvious in connectiontherewith.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the claims.-

For a more complete understanding of the nature and objects of theinvention, reference is had to the following detailed description, andto the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section through a record machine of theautographic register type equipped With the invention, the section'beingtaken approximately along the axis of the feed shaft, and parts beingshown in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, transverse section of the feed shaft showing inelevation the attachment of one of the feed disks; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modifiedembodiment of the invention.

Although the improved feeding mechanism may be used in'connection withvarious machines, it is herein disclosed as installed in a record orwriting machine of the autographic register type, of the general naturedisclosed in Patent No. 1,827,745, L. F. Hagemann, dated October 20,1931. As in the Hagemann patent, the feeding mechanism is operated by ahandle of the reciprocating lever type, but it will be obvious thatother types of operating means are applicable.

As shown in the drawing, there is a supporting frame 5 for the feedassembly mounted within a casing 6 which provides a housing for theoperative elements. This frame may be mounted in the casing forinstallation or removal as a unit, as by means of supporting blocks 1attached to the bottom of the casing and to which the side frame membersof the frame may be detachably connected in any convenient manner. Aplaten (not shown) may be provided as in the I-Iagemann patent mentionedfor supporting the record strips in position for the reception ofinscriptions, and these strips are fed forwardly from a supply intowriting position by means of the feeding mechanism. The frame 5 isprovided with transversely aligned bearings 8 rotatably supporting thefeed shaft 9 ,Which carries transversely spaced feed disks l0cooperating with a feed roll I I mounted in a feed roll carrier orhousing l2 and yieldingly urged into gripping relation with the disks bymeans of springs I3. By means of this arrangement, the work webs orrecord strips will be gripped between the feed disks and the feed rolland thus fed forwardly upon rotation of the feed shaft in a manner fullydisclosed in the Hagemann patent mentioned. Also, an additional disk I4may be mounted upon the feed shaft 9 between and in spaced relation withthe feed disks Hi. This disk I 4 may be equipped with strip foldingmechanism, such, for example, as disclosed in Patent No. 1,658,127, C.L. Johnston, issued February 1'7, 1928. The strip feeding and foldingdisks are mounted for rotation with the feed shaft 9.

As shown in the drawing, the shaft 9 is polygonal in cross-section,preferably hexagonal, although it may be of some equivalent non-circularcross-section so that the disks and other elements havingcorrespondingly shaped apertures when mounted upon the shaft are heldagainst relative rotation. In other words, the shaft is formed with oneor more longitudinal ribs positioned parallel to the shaft axis andformed at the apices of the polygonal shaft in the embodiment shown.This rib cooperates with the complementary openings of the diskapertures to provide for adjustment of the disks along the shaft intodifferent operative positions, but said rib functions to restrainrelative rotation between the shaft and disks. The feed shaft isrotatably mounted in the bearings 8 by means of bearing elements l5 andI6 which are provided with hexagonal openings whereby they may be slidonto the opposite ends of the shaft and thus held against relativerotation thereon. The bearing element l5 as shown is preferably formedas an integral extension of the driving member I! which is operativelyconnected. to the operating handle. In a similar manner the bearingelement I6 is constructed integrally with the cam element l8 which maybe utilized in driving a part of the mechanism of the complete machine.This arrangement of the bearings l 5 and I6 enables them to be assembledwith the shaft or disassembled very quickly and easily.

Also the construction and arrangement of the means for attachingtherdisks l0 and 14 on the main driving shaft 9 provides not only forready assembly or disassembly, but enables these disks to be adjustedlongitudinally of the shaft 9 to accommodate different widths of recordstrips and to be firmly attached in adjusted position.

This attaching means is similar for each of the disks, and in theembodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 includes a mounting and supporting hub l9having an inclined supporting surface, preferably a conical surface forsupporting the disk. This hub is provided with an aperture of the sameshape as the shaft 9 in cross-section, and this aperture receives theshaft thus locking the hub against relative rotation while the hub isreadily slidable along theshaft. Each hub is provided with alongitudinal slot 20 preferably axially disposed as shown, and extendingthroughout the diameter of the hub but terminating a short distance fromone end thereof so as to leave a small integral supporting section 2|adapted to hold the oppositely disposed parts of the hub together in aunit. The slot 20 divides the hub substantially into its opposing halvesor sections attached by the supporting section 2|. By means of thisarrangement the two opposite hub sections are inwardly yieldable,whereby the hub aperture may be contracted so as to grip the hub inadjusted position upon the shaft. Each of the disks l0 and I4 isprovided with a mounting hub 22 having a conical aperture complementarywith the conical surface of the hub 19 and shaped and proportioned forthe reception of the latter so. as to support the disk upon itssupporting hub. Atits small end, each conical hub I9 is threaded for thereception of a threaded nut 23 which is adapted to engage the adjacentend of the disk hub 22 so as to force the latter into assembled positionupon the supporting hub l9. By means of the hub assembly described, itwill be noted that each of the disks l0 and I4 may be convenientlyassembled with the driving shaft 9 and locked in assembled positionthereon in any desired spaced relation. -When a disk has been adjustedalong the shaft into its final desired position, the nut 23 will betightened to force the conical surface of the disk hub 22 intocooperative contact with the conical surface of the supporting hub l9,thus causing contraction of the latter and firmly gripping and holdingtype.

the disk permanently in its operative position. By means of thisarrangement, the assembly and adjustment of the parts are very easy ofaccomplishment. If it is desired to utilize the machine with a differentwidth of record strip from that for which the feed disks are adjusted,it is a very simple matter to loosen the nuts 23 and to adjust the feeddisks as desired, subsequently gripping them in adjusted position.

In order to transmit rotary feeding movement to the feed shaft 9, anoperating handle 24 is mounted exteriorly of the casing 6, this handlebeing herein disclosed as of the reciprocating lever The handle 24 isconnected through a detachable attaching device 25 to a toothed rotary,gear or driving sector 26 meshing with a, pinion 21 which is operativelyconnected through a clutch mechanism to the driving member [1. Thisclutch mechanism is only partially herein disclosed, but it will beunderstood that it cooperates with the driving mechanism as in theHagemann patent-mentioned, to effect rotation of the feed shaft in stripfeeding direction.

According to the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 3, thestructure is generally similar to that above described. However, in thiscase the conical supporting hubs [9a are not provided With the slots 20as in the other embodiment but are held in adjusted position upon thefeed shaft 9 by means of spacing sleeves 28 received upon the shaft andfunctioning to hold the disks in properly spaced relation. In this case,as in the other embodiment, the disks are secured in operative positionupon the conical supporting hubs by means of nuts 23 threaded to thesmall ends of the hubs, The disks are prevented from relative rotationupon the shaft 9 by virtue of the hex-- agonal contour of the shaftcooperating with corresponding hexagonal apertures in the hubs. Theproper spacing of the disks on the shaft will be accomplished byselecting spacing disks 28 of the desired length.

In assembling the shaft with the disks l0 and I4 and with the bearingsl5 and Hi, the bearing I5 with the driving member I! may first be placedupon the shaft and secured in its operative position thereon by anyconvenient means, such as by means of the binding washer 29, positionedin a depressed seat in the driving member, and engaging in a notch inthe shaft. passed through the bearing hub 8 and the disks are slid onthe shaft and adjusted in correctly spaced relation thereon in whichthey are secured by either of the means above described. Upon passingthe end of the shaft through the bearing I6 and cam l8, the retainingnut 30 is applied to hold the shaft in its operative position. A plate3! appropriately attached to the frame 5 is arranged to engage thedriving pinion 2'! so as to retain it in operative position. This pinionis mounted for rotation on the circular supporting end of the shaft 9.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a feed assembly for machines of the character described, incombination, a rotatably supported feed shaft, a plurality of feed disksThe shaft is then mounted on said shaft in spaced relation andadjustable along the shaft, and a gripping device including acontractible hub for holding each of said disks in its operativeadjusted position on the shaft. I

2. In a feed assembly for machines'of the character described, incombination, a rotatably supported feed shaft, a plurality of feed disksmounted on said'shaft in spaced relation, a supporting hub for each ofsaid disks mounted for sliding movement along said shaft, each hubhaving holding means for holding it in position, each disk having anopening in which the corresponding supporting hub is seated, and meansfor forcing said respective hubs and disks into operative assembledrelation with each other and for causing operation of said holding meansto hold the respective hub in operative position on the shaft.

3. In a feed assembly for machines of the character described, incombination, a rotatably supported feed shaft, a plurality of feed disksmounted on said shaft in spaced relation, a contractable supporting hubfor each disk mounted for sliding movement along said shaft and having aconical supporting surface, each disk hav ing a conical openingcomplementary with the conical surface of the hub for receiving thelatter, and a nut threaded to said hub and cooperating to force the diskinto position on the hub and to cause the conical surfaces of the huband disk opening to engage with each other so as to cause the hub tocontract and grip the shaft, thereby to hold the hub in operativeposition.

4. In a feed assembly for machines of the character described, incombination, a non-circular rotary feed shaft, a supporting bearing andan operative element for said shaft having an opening complementary withsaid shaft and receiving the latter, said operative element having anintegral extension with a cylindrical bearing surface engaging inbearing relation with said supporting bearing, a plurality of disksmounted on said shaft for movement therealong and a gripping device forholding each of said disks in its operative adjusted position on theshaft.

5. In a machine of the character described, in combination, anon-circular feed shaft, a mounting hub having a supporting surfaceinclined to the shaft axis and having an opening shaped to correspond tosaid shaft whereby the hub is slidable along the shaft but is heldagainst relative rotation, a strip feed controlling disk having anopening for receiving said hub and having a supporting surface inclinedto the shaft axis and engaging in supporting relation with said firstmentioned supporting surface, and a retaining nut threaded to said huband cooperating with the disk for retaining said disk in position uponsaid hub.

6. In a machine of the character described, in combination, anon-circular feed shaft, a mounting hub having a supporting surfaceinclined to the shaft axis and having an opening shaped to correspond tosaid shaft whereby the hub is slidable along the shaft but is heldagainst relative rotation, a strip feed controlling disk having anopening for receiving said hub and having a supporting surface inclinedto the shaft axis and engaging in supporting relation with said firstmentioned supporting surface, and a retaining nut threaded to said hubadjacent the terminal of said inclined supporting surface of the hubnearest the shaft for forcing said inclined surfaces into supportingengagement with each other, and to retain the hub and disk in operativeassembled relation.

' 7. In a machine of the character described, in combination, anon-circular feed shaft, a mounting hub having a, supporting surfaceinclined to the shaft axis and having an opening shaped to correspond tosaid shaft whereby the hub is slidable along the shaft but is heldagainst relative rotation, a strip feed controlling disk having anopening for receiving said hub and having a supporting surface inclinedto the shaft axis and engaging in supporting relation with said firstmentioned supporting surface, means for retaining said disk in positionupon said hub, and a spacing sleeve on said shaft for positioning thedisk in a definite operative position longitudinally of the shaft.

8. In a machine of the character described, in combination, anon-circular feed shaft, a mounting hub having a supporting surfaceinclined to the shaft axis and having an opening spaced to correspond tosaid shaft whereby the hub is slidable along the shaft but is heldagainst relative rotation, a strip feed controlling disk having anopening for receiving said hub and having a supporting surface inclinedto the shaft axis and engaging in supporting relation with said firstmentioned supporting surface, a retaining device for forcing saidinclined surfaces into supporting engagement with each other and toretain the hub and disk in operative assembled relation, and a spacingsleeve on said shaft for positioning the disk in a definite operativeposition longitudinally of the shaft.

9. In a machine of the character described, in combination, anon-circular feed shaft, a mounting hub having a supporting surfaceinclined to the shaft axis and having an opening shaped to correspond tosaid shaft whereby the hub is slidable along the shaft but is heldagainst relative rotation, a strip feed controlling disk having anopening for receiving said hub and having a supporting surface inclinedto the shaft axis and engaging in supporting relation with said firstmentioned supporting surface, said hub being longitudinally splitwhereby the size of its opening may be varied, and a retaining devicefor forcing said inclined surfaces into supporting engagement with eachother so as to contract the hub opening and to bind the disk inoperative position on the shaft.

10. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a feedshaft, a mounting hub having a supporting surface inclined to the shaftaxis and having an opening receiving said shaft, said hub beinglongitudinally split whereby the size of its opening may be varied, astrip controlling disk having an opening receiving said hub and havingan inclined surface engaging said first mentioned inclined surface soas. to contract the hub to grip the shaft, and means for holding the huband disk in cooperative assembled relation.

11. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a feedshaft, a mounting hub having a conical supporting surface and beinglongitudinally split at its large end and having an opening forreceiving said shaft, a strip controlling disk having a conical openingfor receiving said conical hub, and a nut threaded to said hub so as toforce the conical hub into engagement in the conical opening to contractthe hub and bind it in position on said shaft.

12. In a machine of the character described,

in combination, an operating shaft having a longitudinal rib, a mountinghub having asunporting surface inclined to the shaft axis and having ashaft-receiving opening shaped to correspond to said shaft and ribwhereby the hub is slidable along the shaft but is held against relativerotation, a controlling disk or element having an opening for receivingsaid hub, and having a supporting surface inclined to the shaft axis andengaging in supporting relation with said first mentioned supportingsurface, means for retaining said controlling element in position uponsaid hub, and means whereby said retaining means cooperates with saidhub through said inclined surfaces for securing said assembled hub andcontrolling element in different adjusted operative positions along saidshaft.

13. In a machine of the character described, in combination, anoperating shaft having a longitudinal rib, a contractable mounting hubhaving a conical supporting surface inclined to the shaft axis andhaving a shaft-receiving opening shaped to correspond to said shaft andrib whereby the hub is slidable' into adjusted positions along the shaftbut is held against relative rotation thereon, a controlling elementhaving a conical opening for receiving said conical hub so as to supportthe controlling element, an attaching extension at the small end of saidconical hub, and a retaining member connected to said attachingextension and cooperating with said controlling element to contract saidhub through cooperation of. said conical surfaces so as to secure thecontrolling element in position on the shaft.

WALTER ELMER GOCHNAUER.

